Psychedelic Assisted Recovery
A training course for professionals by Dana T. Lerman, MD and Vanessa Crites from Sobriety of the Soul.
Psychedelics & Recovery
A Harm Reduction–Focused Educational Course
Dates: April 11 – May 16, 2026
Format: 2 hours per week for 6 weeks every Saturday
This in-depth course explores the complex relationship between psychedelics and sobriety through a harm reduction and educational lens. Designed for clinicians, facilitators, and recovery professionals, the course offers a thoughtful, non-dogmatic space to examine how psychedelics intersect with recovery, safety, and long-term well-being.
Rather than promoting or discouraging use, this course focuses on discernment, ethics, and informed decision-making. Participants are invited to engage critically with nuanced questions around recovery, risk, and responsibility in a supportive learning environment.
Course Description
This in-depth course explores the complex relationship between psychedelics and sobriety through a harm-reduction and trauma-informed lens. Drawing on clinical experience, recovery frameworks, and lived experience, the course examines addiction as more than substance use alone—addressing relapse, craving, trauma, spirituality, and the risks unique to recovery populations. Rather than positioning psychedelics as cures, the course emphasizes discernment, ethical responsibility, preparation, and integration, exploring where these experiences may support healing and where they may increase risk. Designed for clinicians, facilitators, and recovery professionals, the course offers a grounded and thoughtful approach to one of the most nuanced and high-stakes conversations in psychedelic care.
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Rehab relapse rates & the “revolving door” problem
The missing pieces: trauma, disconnection, unresolved pain
Why addiction recovery populations require specialized care: relapse, overdose, substitution risk, predatory providers
New: Relapse as an “altered state” — how craving itself mimics trance/compulsion
Case reflection: Dana & Vanessa’s stories as course foundation
📖 Lit Review: NIDA/SAMHSA relapse data; McLellan (2000) -
Addiction as survival strategy for unresolved trauma
Neurobiology of craving and relapse
New: Family systems & intergenerational trauma (co-addiction, codependency, children of alcoholics)
New: Beyond the individual — cultural trauma, disconnection from community & spirit
📖 Lit Review: Gabor Maté; van der Kolk; family systems in SUD; neuroscience of addiction -
Why the Steps remain crucial to many in recovery
Mapping psychedelic processes onto each Step
New: Bill W’s LSD experiments & entheogenic roots of recovery history
New: Alternative recovery frameworks: SMART, Dharma, She Recovers
Vanessa’s story: bridging Steps + psychedelics as a lived path
📖 Lit Review: Kelly et al. (2020); White (2007) -
Harm reduction vs abstinence-only: bridging the tension
Meeting people where they are, with caution
Screening for suicidality, psychosis, unstable detox
Medication interactions (benzos, SSRIs, MAT)
New: Competencies required to serve addiction populations (recovery literacy, emergency planning, capacity to say no)
📖 Lit Review: Marlatt & Witkiewitz; harm reduction in SUD -
Intention-setting as protective factor
Ceremony & ritual as grounding and safety structures
Trauma-informed facilitation basics
Ethical red flags: coercion, unsafe dosing, lack of medical oversight
New: Embodied practices (breath, somatic anchoring, ritual movement) as relapse protection
📖 Lit Review: Carhart-Harris (set/setting), Labate & Cavnar -
Mystical-type experiences in recovery
Evidence for alcohol and nicotine cessation
New: Risks of destabilization in early sobriety & the role of peer/sponsor anchors
📖 Lit Review: Bogenschutz (2015), Johnson (2014), JAMA AUD (2022) -
Indigenous traditions and ceremonial use
Accessing root causes of addiction
Risks: dietary/medical complications, psychological overwhelm
New: The tension between spiritual awe and destabilization in recovery populations
📖 Lit Review: Thomas (2013); Labate & Cavnar (2014) -
History, Bwiti tradition, Western applications
Potency for opioid dependence interruption
Extreme medical risk → hospital-level care required
📖 Lit Review: Alper (1999); Mash (2018) -
Item description
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Trauma healing, relational repair
Evidence for PTSD + SUD overlap
Risks: boundary vulnerability, re-traumatization if poorly held
New: Family repair & amends processes supported by MDMA
📖 Lit Review: Mithoefer (2019), MAPS Phase 3 -
Dissociation, neuroplastic reset, psychotherapy pairing
Evidence for mood stabilization and craving reduction
Guardrails for high-risk patients (dosing, supervision, aftercare)
New: Risks of ketamine dependency / compulsive use
📖 Lit Review: Dakwar (2019), Krupitsky (1997) -
Addiction to non-ordinary states: why this population is especially vulnerable
Spiritual bypassing and peak-chasing
New: Integration as ongoing recovery practice, not one-time “fix”
Safeguards: grounded community, accountability, sober anchors
📖 Lit Review: Cashwell (2007) on spiritual bypass; compulsive psychedelic use reports -
Psychedelics as catalysts, not cures
Anchoring healing through therapy, community, and service
New: Step 11 as an integration frame — psychedelic practice as prayer/meditation
Policy, research, and training landscape
Building psychedelic-informed recovery communities that protect vulnerable populations
📖 Lit Review: Watts & Luoma (2020); ongoing psilocybin/ketamine/MDMA trials
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